Loved ones of 10-year-old Kami Ring are grateful for an arrest, but horrified by who police say raped and killed the little girl earlier this week in the small town of Port Deposit.

Thursday, police arrested 29-year-old Richard Madden, a family friend, for the crime.

“The details are making me sick to my stomach. I felt as though it was him from the gate,” Clark said.

Kami disappeared Sunday night while visiting the home Madden shared with his parents on Waibel Road. Police say the couple acted as grandparents to Kami, although not blood related.

On Monday around 11 a.m., she was reported missing and the family called police. By 6:20 that night, police found her body in a field across the street. She had been raped, beaten and strangled to death.

According to charging documents, DNA evidence, including bodily fluid found at the scene, linked Madden to the crime.

“It’s hard to accuse family of something that you don’t want to be true,” said Charles Truslow, family friend.

As the community comes together to show its support for Kami, family and friends–including the suspect’s mother and stepfather–are left wondering what they could have done to protect her.

“They would never have even had Kami around him if they knew he was this sick,” said Clark.

Family members say Madden acted suspiciously and even tried to keep them from searching the brush where her body was found.

“As soon as I mentioned it, Richard grabbed my arm and said, ‘Char, a baby would not go in the sticker briars,'” said Charlotte Dillon, family friend.

Now the community is banding together to honor Kami and her promising life cut short.

“She was a singer, she was a vibrant 10-year-old that loved life. She loved everything about life,” Clark said.

Madden is charged with first -egree murder, assault and rape. He’s facing life in prison.

At the time of his arrest, Madden was already in jail. Police had previously taken him in on an unrelated drug charge.

Kami’s funeral is set for Monday at noon at Crouch Funeral Home. Visitation hours will be Monday, 9 a.m. to noon.

The Boys and Girls Club of Cecil County will be handling all expressions of sympathy and is helping Kami’s family with expenses.

Donations can be made to: Boys and Girls Club of Cecil County, 101 East Main Street, Elkton, MD 21921, marking Kami Ring Fund in the memo line.